Leadership & Strategic Oversight

• Provide strategic leadership on professional standards, accreditation and the quality of advice as a member of the Wealth Leadership Team, setting the direction and standards for the advice process.
• Lead and develop a high-performing Standards & Quality function, setting clear objectives and standards and holding the functions within its remit to account for delivery.
• Draw on management information and outcomes data to assure the quality of advice, evidence good client outcomes and drive continuous improvement.
• Provide strategic advice to the Wealth Leadership Team and key stakeholders and contribute to organisational strategy and long-term growth objectives.

Professional Standards, Accreditation & Quality of Advice

• Lead the development and maintenance of professional competency frameworks, standards and codes of conduct.
• Oversee accreditation, assessment and quality assurance processes to ensure consistency, integrity and confidence.
• Develop policies and procedures supporting professional registration and recognition.
• Provide strategic leadership on professionalisation, accreditation and qualification recognition.
• Oversee change and improvement measures for the quality of advice, improving the end-to-end client experience from onboarding throughout the client journey.

Training & Competency

• Own and oversee the T&C scheme covering Area Managers & Client Directors, ensuring it is effectively designed, distributed and embedded across the advice population and aligned to UK regulatory requirements.
• Ensure skills and professional capabilities are implemented across Wealth distribution, providing a professional T&C scheme that delivers a highly skilled, risk-aware frontline and a superior client experience.
• Embed a culture of knowledge and skills development through coaching, mentorship, technical expertise and structured supervision, delivered through managers and the teams within remit.
• Support the development of career pathways from the UK Bank into Wealth, ensuring compliance with minimum training and competence standards for client advice, financial planning and other regulated activities.

Wealth Assurance Team

• Provide oversight of the Wealth Assurance team and its file-review and quality-assurance programme, ensuring it evidences good client outcomes and feeds continuous improvement back into standards and T&C.
• Surface competency, regulatory or work-practice concerns arising from assurance activity to the Head of Wealth and agree and support appropriate action plans.

Governance, Regulatory & Stakeholder

• Ensure effective governance, compliance and enforcement of professional standards, with sound record keeping and clear management information.
• Lead and embed a culture of integrity and compliance, building a client-first culture and acting in the client’s best interest, with oversight of regular training on regulatory change and good practice.
• Lead on implementing regulatory change relating to advice standards, ensuring processes and procedures remain aligned to the latest requirements.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with regulators, professional bodies and stakeholders across the Handelsbanken Group, working with Compliance and Risk to secure positive, compliant outcomes.

What We’re Looking For

Research (by Harvard University) shows that women are particularly likely to second guess themselves and not apply - so if you are worried you don't meet all the criteria, get in touch anyhow and let us do the worrying…

• Level 6 qualified: Chartered Diploma in Financial Planning / Regulated Financial Planning or equivalent.
• Significant experience within wealth management financial services.
• Experience developing competency frameworks, professional pathways and governance frameworks.
• Strong understanding of Training & Competency scheme implementation across advice and paraplanning populations.
• A senior leader who sets direction and assures delivery across teams, operating at a strategic, oversight level.
• Experience engaging with senior stakeholders, regulators, boards and committees.
• Excellent leadership, communication and influencing skills, with strong strategic thinking and policy-development capability, and the ability to balance operational delivery with long-term organisational objectives.

Why Join Handelsbanken

We want everyone at Handelsbanken to feel supported, motivated, and able to do great work. That’s why, alongside brilliant colleagues, meaningful work and training and development opportunities, we provide a variety of benefits designed with your wellbeing in mind.

In addition, there is a flexible benefits package with the key highlights detailed below.

Application Next Steps

Your journey with us begins once you have submitted your application. One of our Handelsbanken Talent Acquisition Partners will be reviewing your details and will later organise a phone conversation if your experience aligns with our requirements, we will extend an invitation for you to participate in an interview.

This advert will be live for a minimum of two weeks. However, please note that after the two weeks, the closing date could change at any time depending on the number of responses received.

The Bank is deeply committed to embedding good equality and diversity practice into all of our activities. This is so that we are an inclusive, welcoming and inspiring place to work that encourages everyone to apply, regardless of socio-economic background, age, disability, pregnancy and/or parental status, race (including colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origin), veteran status, marital and civil partnership status, religion or belief, sex, gender reassignment or sexual orientation.